specializations

I'm afraid we've become too specialized. I'm afraid that we've worked too hard to become good at only one thing, without actually having any interest in anything beyond our own field of expertise. I am regularly surprised by the number of different interests that occupied someone like, say, Thomas Jefferson or Hildegaard von Bingen, especially compared to how compartmentalized and specialized our professions today seem to be. There surely isn't anything wrong with specializing in that to which we are called and gifted by God, but to ignore the vastness of the rest of human experience, is to sell ourselves short.

A person doesn't have to be a professional to play music. In fact, I believe wholeheartedly (to quote Michelle Shocked) that music is too important to be left to professionals. Further, we all use language to communicate. What about spending some time exploring how to communicate more about life than simply what to have for dinner, or what time the mall opens. Why don't more people write poetry, for instance? It doesn't have to be good; it doesn't even have to be shared (... maybe everyone does write poetry, they just don't share it?).

I know some of us are super busy, and just don't have time to devote to pursuits beyond holding down multiple jobs while trying to keep track of raising a family. But for many of us, surely it would do us some good to turn off the tv and shut down facebook for a while, so there's time to at least explore more of the variety that human experience has to offer.

$0.02